Flying target



(No Model.)

B. P. SAYLOR.

FLYING TARGET.

No. 571,958. Patented Nov. 24, 1896.

aczswey.

m: nomua miles on. PbmD-LITNQ. wunmaT on. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SAYLOR, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

FLYING TARG ET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 571,958, datedNovember24, 1896.

Application filed February 5, 1894. Serial No.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SAYLOR, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Lancaster, in the county of Lancaster and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFlying Targets, (for which I have received a patent in the Dominion ofCanada, N 0. 47,897, dated January 15, 1895, and in England, No. 9,414,dated May 13, 1895;) and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to improvements in flying targets of the classadapted to be thrown or sprung from traps, well known to marksmen in thefield sport known as bird or trap shooting.

The invention consists, first, in the shape or form of the target andthe material of which it is made, having for its object the giving tothe target the best form for poising or supporting it in the air duringthe period-of its flight, enabling it to move steadier, a greaterdistance, and in a much lower course than is possible to be attained bytargets difierently molded, as well as rendering the target more readilybreakable when struck by pellets of shot; second, in making itpractically in the shape of a segmental spherical dome, and in arrangingin its upper and under faces alternate ridges and valleys ranging fromthe center toward the circumference in the form of spiral volutes, andin bringing the under volutes to the circumferential edge.

The purposes of the invention are attained by the devices illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which similar reference-letters designatelike parts throughout the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is aplan of a flying target embodying the elements of the invention; Fig. 2,a reverse plan of the same,with a portion removed for want of room inthe drawings; Fig. 3, a view from below of the portion above the line a;a; in Fig. 1, with curved lines to indicate the hollow under side 5 andFigs. 4 and 5 are drawn-out-straight sections taken, respectively, onthe lines y y and z z in Fig. 1, to better illustrate the regularity anddepth 499,178. (No model.) Patented in Canada January 15, 1895, No.47,897, and in England May 13,1895,N'o.9,4=14x of the corrugationsplaced in the dome of the target.

The target of this invention is preferably made of coal-tar or pitch,such as results from the manufacture of gas, reduced to a consistency orpaste that may be readily molded, pressed, or otherwise given therequired shape, and it may be made of any other approved material whoseparticles arenot tenaciously adherent, in order that it may be easilybroken when struck by pellets of shot.

The general shape of the target is practically that of an invertedsaucer having a thickened edge or ring about its open end, beingcircularly convex above and circularly hollow or concaved underneath,giving to the bod yAthe general appearance of a segmental spherical domeA", projecting upward from the upper face of a practically-cylindricalbase A as shown. At the center of the top is a hollow depression a, inthe form of a conical recess of about sixty degrees opening, forming onthe under side of the target, in the hollow thereof, an inverted rightcone A depending from .the center of the dome. Starting from the centraldepression a and terminating in the upper face of the cylindrical base Aare alternate elevations or ridges a and depressions or valleys aarranged in spiral volutes, forming convoluted corrugations, Figs. 1, 4,and 5, in the upper face or convex surface of the dome, against whichthe impinging air through which the target flies in its course serves togive to said target increasing or continuing rotation.

Again, beginning at the depending cone A and ending in the under edge ofthe ringbase are alternate elevations or ridges a and depressions orvalleys a arranged in similar spiral volutes, forming similar butoppositely-disposed convoluted corrugations, Figs. 2, 4, and 5, in theunder face or concaved surface of the dome, against which the airthrough Which the sprung target flies likewise contacts, adding toorfurther increasing said rotation, imparting additional support orprolongation of flight; but the curved lines in the hollow of the domein Fig. 3 are introduced to indicate its spherical concavity, and haveno reference to the nature of the spiral volutes.

It will here be observed that when a trap carrying a target of thisclass is sprung the target will leave the trap in an upwardly andforwardly sloping direction, and having received a rotating momentum atthe initial of its flight with its under surface opposing most directlythe air contact. First, then, the air, as the target rushes through it,in coming in contact with said convoluted spiral, volutes orcorrugations, measurably adds to or continues said rotation, impartingincreasing support with great steadiness to the flying target; second,the convoluted spiral volutes in the hollow of the dome, in having beenbrought to the extreme under edge of the target, form a greatercorrugated surface underneath than do those above in the top thereof,and by reason of said upwardly-slopiug forward flight the air, in comingin most direct contact with said under convoluted corrugations, bymeasurably adding to the rotatability thereof, actually continues orprolongs its support, and the target is carried steadier and farther inits course, even way beyond the point heretofore attained by targetswithout said convolutes, though thrown or sprung from the same trap andunder precisely similar conditions, and, third, by reason of thiscontinued rotation, this steadier and better support, and greater orfarther flight the target of this invention is adapted to be sprung froma trap having but a slight elevation, giving to it an almost horizontalflight, parallel to and but a slight distance above the ground. Theseconvoluted corrugations in the upper and under faces thereof alsopresent obstructions to the striking shot, and in preventing thestriking pellets from glancing off aid materially in its being damagedor broken by the shooter or marksman. The bases A before mentioned,likewise serve to support a number of targets in nesting for safepacking for either storage or transportation, and the centraldepressions a serve to receive the points of the depending cones Aprotecting them from injury in these several conditions.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare thatwhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A target to be sprung from a trap comprising a hollow segmentalspherical body, having a practically cylindrical base-ring about-theopen end thereof, a conical depression in the center of its top and adepending cone in the hollow thereof, with alternating elevated anddepressed spiral volutes in the convex surface of the dome, said volutesextending from said conical depression to the upper face of saidcylindrical base-ring; and, with alternating elevated and depressedspiral volutes in the concaved surface of the dome, said under vol utesextending from said depending cone to the extreme lower edge of a thetarget, all substantially as described and for the purpose hereinbeforeset forth.

2. The herein-described flying target 00111- prising a hollow segmentalspherical dome projected from the upper face of a cylindrical base-ring,and having a central conical top depression, with convoluted convexsurface corrugations terminating in the upper face of said cylindricalbase-ring, and having a central depending cone in the hollow of the domewith convoluted concaved surface corrugations extended to the extremeunder edge of the target, all substantially as shown and for the purposehereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMlN FRANKLIN SAILOR.

Vitnesses:

DANL. H. HERB, PAUL A. HERR.

